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It might not quite be a question as old as time, but several area cowboys and ranchers recently weighed in on benefits and drawbacks of driving cattle with horses vs. all-terrain vehicles or 4-wheelers.

Cowboy and longtime horseman Eric Soyez has ridden both enough to have a preference.

“I’m a horse guy myself,” he said. “I can move around easier and rope if I need to. I also feel safer on a horse. On an ATV, you are at a cow’s level. It is easier for them to run you over.”

“What I use depends on what I’m after, Tobe Moore, of rural Marion said. “If the cow’s gone wild, I want my horse. [In that situation] you are a target, and that’s no fun.”

Longtime rancher Chuck McLinden said horses have the advantage in confined feeding spaces, preconditioned yards, deep water, and draws because of their superior maneuverability.

Horse riders also typically sit about three feet above where ATV riders do, which affords a better view and may make some riders feel safer, but that doesn’t make a difference to McLinden. He prefers ATVs for their convenience and expedience.

“I’ve got nothing against horses,” he said, “but sometimes I can cover the same country in half a day on a 4-wheeler that it would take me two days to cover on a horse.”

He said he saves about one-hour a day by not saddling horses, hooking up trailers, and having to spend time feeding and watering them. He said it is easier to hop on a 4-wheeler, drive it on his flatbed pickup and be on his way.

“When margins are tight, saving time and money is what it’s all about,” McLinden said. “With horses you also either have to break them yourself or spend money having someone else do it.”

However, Soyez said ATVs don’t maneuver as well in brush or in the hills as a properly trained horse, and while ATVs require less maintenance there is a chance they can stall out and or stop running, leaving riders vulnerable to an angry animal.